Bridgeton pioneer., 1887-04-07
THE FRUIT GROWERS.
I. M. Smalley, President; B. n.
Minch, Secretary and
Treasurer.

Forty farmers braved the wintry
blasts yesterday, and drove over the
to the Court House, in this city. 1t
was the fourth meeting of the fruit
growers to organize fruit growers
exchange, such as we have before
given detailed account of. Two
O'CLOCK was the hour named for the
meeting, but an important member,
Mr.. Morris Bacon, of Greenwich, was
not present, and the meeting was de-
layed until half-past three, when it
was decided to go on without him.
Chairman Smalley took the Chair,
and w. O. Garrison again acted as
Secretary of the meeting. A report
from the various townships were called
to see how many members had been
secured The call resulted in the fol-
lowing report being made: Stow Creek,
4; Fairfield, 3; Lawrence, 2, and
Bridgeton, IA. Mr. Garrison, of the
Bridgeton Committee, stated that his
fourteen was the work of only one
hour and ten minutes, and that the
| merchants subscribed their names
only that the exchange might become
a fixture. The total membership OF
the exchange is now ss, with enough
others pledged to make 100.
Chas. S. Fithian then read the con-
stitution and bylaws by sections, and
they were adopted. Also a code of
rules. Section 1, of the bylaws,
showed the business of the exchange
to be as follows: "The business of this
association shall be to dispose Of green
fruits, evaporated and dried fruits,
canned goods of any description, or
such articles as they may from time to
time see fit to operate on.n
Other rules of Importance showed
that "all sales shall be for spot cash. :"
That all sellers should pay zone cent
per basket for all fruit sold through
the exchange" Then it was decided
that FARMERS should have the right of
one bid on their own fruit"
After the reading the constitution
was adopted as whole.
One member brought up the ques-
ton of compelling buyers to pay for
baskets when they bought the peaches.
This seemed impractical, as a member
stated that the New York and Boston
buyers had declared that they would
buy no peaches if the baskets were
returned 1t was finally left open for
farmers to do as they pleased with the
baskets. The baskets to be used were
the standard stave basket now in use.
1T was unanimously decided that a
Board of Directors should be appoint
ed, consisting of thirteen members.
At this point Mr. Bacon put in an
appearance and was received with
loud applause.
A committee of f1ve, consisting of E.
H. Sheppard, Stow Creek; I. E. Hunt
Greenwich; Chas Diament, Fairfield
and Chas. Richman, Hopewell, was
appointed by the Chair to nominate a
: Board of Directors.
They immediately retired into the
County library, and in a few moments
returned with the following named
gentlemen as a Board of Directors
; Greenwich, Morris Bacon, Thos. E
Hunt; Stow Creek, l. NJ. Smalley, Ed
H. Sheppard; Hopewell, Chas. j. Filth
ian; Bridgeton, W. o. Garrison, Chas. S
Fithian; Fairfield, John Laning, Robt
Sheppard; Lawrence, Chas. Diament
George Hepner; Downe, Belford Rus
sci; Deerfield, j. D. Cole.
, These gentlemen were unanimously
elected by the Exchange.
After considerable talk on matters
, pertaining to the Exchange, John Ian
ing, of Fairfield, was appointed tc
solicit members from his township
. after which the Exchange adjourned
while the Directors remained to elect 6
President, Secretary and Treasurer
and an Executive Board.
The members of the Board were
J present, and they Immediately elected
I. NJ. Smalley, President. He declined
the honor, but his declination was moi
, accepted. The choosing of the Secre
tary took more time. w. O. Garrison
/ was the choice of the Directors, but he
, positively declined, saying that he was
so busy that he had not a moment to
} devote to the work it would require
Finally the Board unanimously elected
Bloomfield H. Minch, Secretary and
Treasurer, at a salary of $50 a year.
The Executive Board will consist OF
President Smalley, Secretary Minch-
Chas. s. Fithian, Chas. Diament and
Ed. H. Sheppard. 1t was decided that
the Executive Committee should look
into the matter of selecting suitable
site for the Exchange building, and
report at subsequent meeting of the